Adjustable beds have long been used in hospitals and convalescent centers. Besides allowing recovering patients to lie in different positions, adjustable beds permit average consumers to read or to watch television more comfortably in bed. The average American household, however, does not have an adjustable bed. Besides being associated with the sick and elderly, conventional adjustable bed designs are unattractive and cumbersome. Evidently, the average American houseful considers these disadvantages to outweigh the added comfort and convenience that adjustable beds provide.
FIG. 1 (prior art) illustrates some of the disadvantages of a conventional adjustable bed 10. Conventional adjustable bed 10 cannot be used in combination with a box spring or platform bed. The mattress 11 of conventional adjustable bed 10 rests on an adjustable support member 12 instead of on a box spring. Adjustable support member 12 is connected to a movement mechanism (not shown) and to a frame 13 with wheels 14. The wheeled frame, support member and movement mechanism do not easily fit on top of a box spring or platform bed. In order to use conventional adjustable bed 10, the consumer must forego the aesthetic qualities of a platform bed or a box spring framed by a headboard and footboard. Consequently, conventional adjustable bed 10 imparts the appearance of a hospital room as opposed to a bedroom.
Another disadvantage of conventional adjustable bed 10 is that mattress 11 does not bend sufficiently in an inclined sitting position to conform to the underlying adjustable support member. Adjustable bed 10 in FIG. 1 is in an inclined sitting position. Mattress 11 in the section below an occupant's hips has not bent sufficiently to conform to adjustable support member 12 and has created a gap 15. Because mattress 11 does not adequately conform to the shape of adjustable support member 12, the sleeping surface of mattress 11 does not achieve the configuration formed by adjustable support member 12, and the occupant of adjustable bed 10 does not benefit from the desired resting position. The various sitting and reclining positions achieved by adjustable bed 10 depend on which mattress is used.
Yet another disadvantage of conventional adjustable bed 10 is that mattress 11 tends to shift or slide from side to side and from end to end when the occupant enters and exits the bed. In an attempt to solve this problem, some conventional adjustable beds employ a foot rail. For example, adjustable bed 10 has a foot rail 16 in the shape of a bent metal tube. Foot rail 16 does not, however, prevent mattress 14 from protruding beyond the top of adjustable support member 11 when adjustable bed 10 is placed in the elevated sitting position, as shown in FIG. 1. In addition, foot rail 16 is a metal bar near the sleeping surface of the foot of mattress 11. An occupant's foot could hit the metal bar if the occupant's leg is energetically lowered over the end of mattress 11.
And foot rail 16 does not prevent mattress 11 from shifting from side to side. FIG. 1 shows that the foot of mattress 11 has shifted to the occupant's right, and the head of mattress 11 has shifted to the left from the perspective of a reclining occupant. Mattress 14 will be increasingly skewed after each exit and entry into adjustable bed 10.
Recently, an adjustable bed has been developed that overcomes these disadvantages. A novel adjustable bed that incorporates the movement mechanism and support members inside the mattress requires no foot rails or other retaining means to prevent the mattress from shifting over an underlying adjustable support member. The mattress of the novel adjustable bed assumes the desired configurations and does not need to conform to the configuration of an underlying adjustable support member. And the novel adjustable bed can be used on a platform bed. Nevertheless, the novel adjustable bed creates some complications due to its one-piece structure. For example, bedding cannot be “tucked in” between the mattress and a non-existent support member or box spring. Moreover, sheets become loose when the novel adjustable bed is placed in an inclined position. A means is sought that permits bedding to be retained on a one-piece adjustable bed that incorporates the movement mechanism and support members inside the mattress.